Animal Ethics and the Problem of Predation

Predation amongst wild animals is an ever-present phenomenon. It is also the source of a great deal of suffering. This presents an important challenge for contemporary animal ethics. If we acknowledge that suffering is bad and that we have a moral duty to reduce suffering in the world, then it seems that we must also acknowledge the existence of a moral duty to intervene in the wild to assist wild animals that are victims of predation. Considering the staggering magnitude of suffering involved, moreover, it seems that this duty might just as well outweigh opposing considerations against intervention. Many think, however, that this conclusion is deeply counterintuitive and that if this is what animal ethics entails, then animal ethics should be rejected as absurd. As such, the problem of predation is one of the most vexing for the field. This chapter reconstructs ‘the argument from predation’ against animal ethics and examines the array of responses that scholars have advanced in response to this complex ethical issue.